Technical Field
The invention relates generally to measuring devices such as electronic calipers, micrometers, and similar length and angle measuring devices.
Description of the Related Art
Various handheld measuring devices are currently available. One example of such a handheld measuring device is a displacement measuring instrument, such as an electronic caliper which can be used for making precise measurements of physical dimensions of objects (e.g., measuring machined parts to ensure that they are meeting tolerance requirements). Exemplary electronic calipers are disclosed in commonly assigned U.S. Pat. Nos. RE37490, 5,574,381, 5,973,494 and 8,745,108, each of which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.
Such measuring devices, particularly in the case of commercially-available electronic calipers and micrometers, have become near-commodities. Elements such as the user-controlled functions, the number and spacing of the buttons to activate the functions, and the dimensions of the electronic housing and the display have settled into a narrow range of configurations. These configurations provide the manufacturability, economical, functionality, and ergonomic factors that are expected or required by a majority of manufacturers and users of such devices. As such, manufacturers and users are reluctant to accept design variations that may have undesirable effects, such as increasing the number of buttons or decreasing their ergonomic spacing, increasing the ergonomic dimensions of the electronic housing, etc., even to a moderate extent. Some commercial attempts to offer a button-controlled menu have proven tedious to operate (due to the many pushes required) and/or introduced concerns regarding button life. Touch screens used to solve similar problems in phones may be undesirable from a cost or reliability standpoint for some market segments. It would be desirable to provide additional functions that can be controlled by a user, provided that those functions can be quickly accessed in an intuitive manner without significantly affecting the device size, mechanical complexity, or cost.